


A Motto of Shadow and Light

by scullyphile



Category: The X-Files
Genre: A kiss?, F/M, MSR, UST, hedge maze, maze, sundial, the Shining - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2015-12-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 17:38:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 857
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5342678
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scullyphile/pseuds/scullyphile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mulder and Scully go through a maze.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Motto of Shadow and Light

“You know, Scully,” he began, in his story-time tone, “this is the same hedge maze where Kubrick’s The Shining was filmed.”

“That was a set, not a real hedge maze.”

“Fine. But it kind of looks like the one in the movie, doesn’t it?”

“I mean, a hedge maze is a hedge maze, Mulder. One is pretty much like another.”

“You say that as if you’ve been to all of the best hedge mazes already and this one is too pedestrian for you,” he quipped. Their footsteps crunched on the gravel walkway as they approached the crime scene.

“Can we please stop saying ‘hedge maze’?”

“‘Fraid not, because I’ve got to tell you that the body was found over here, just outside the entrance to the hedge maze.”

She rolled her eyes at him, turned to one of the other agents at the scene, and started asking questions. He was listening in a detached way, his ears tuned to hear any phrases that might require him to chime in with his paranormal perspective, but the words, for the most part, flowed past him unnoticed. He crouched down by the entrance, touched a pool of viscous purple liquid with this middle finger, and brought it to his mouth, tasting it.

“Mulder,” she accused, her shadow falling over him, “are you eating evidence again? One of these days that’s going to come back to bite you in the–”

“Scully,” he interrupted.

“What?”

“It’s grape cough medicine. Don’t worry, I’m not poisoned. Let’s walk the maze, look for clues.”

“I’m sure there are already dozens of field agents working on that this very minute, scouring every inch.”

“They’re not us.”

“No, no they’re not,” she conceded.

He rose and started inward. When he arrived at the first fork, he paused, allowing her to catch up with him.

“I say we go left,” he said.

“I don’t know why, but I think we should go right.”

He reached into his pocket, producing a quarter. “Heads or tails?”

“Tails.”

They went right. Mulder chose their direction at the next chance and hit a dead end. They went back. Since the other agents were doing a thorough combing of the maze, they just wandered, waiting for a gut feeling to strike.

“You think there’s a prize at the end?” he asked. “Like a piece of cheese or a beer or something? I could use a beer.”

“If there were beer at the end, do you think you’d be motivated to do a better job? Because so far, Mulder, it doesn’t seem like we’re getting anywhere. Not with this maze, not with this case, not with…” she trailed off, staring at a seemingly random spot on the hedge.

“Not with what, Scully?”

“I found blood. Give me one of those evidence markers and help me collect a sample.”

He handed her the requested items and they continued on their convoluted path.

“Not with what?”

“Hmm? Oh, it’s not important. I was just thinking about some things Sheila said to me about us.”

“Yeah? Holman said some things to me, too.”

The conversation stalled into silence as they rounded another corner. Agent Ybarra waved to them.

“Find anything?” Sonya asked.

“Some blood back there, two or three left turns ago,” Mulder offered. “Honestly, I’m not exactly sure. I got distracted. We marked it and took a sample.”

“I’m sure I can find it again,” Ybarra said, heading in the direction they’d come from. “Don’t worry about it,” she called over her shoulder, and then she was gone.

They spent the last several minutes of the maze in silence, lost in their thoughts. When they arrived at the center there was only a sundial. No beer. No cheese. No one else around.

“Well that’s disappointing,” Mulder said. “Who moved my cheese?”

“I don’t know, Mulder. Sundials are kind of interesting. They’re educational. Did you know that it’s a tradition for sundials to have a motto on them? Like reflections on the passage of time, how short life is, or sometimes the person who makes it just says something they think is witty.”

“Educational? That’s not going to motivate the masses, Scully. A prize is supposed to be a reward for a job well done, not a lesson,” he declared.

“Ah,” was her response. Hardly a ringing endorsement of his argument. She sat down on the edge of the sundial, squinting.

He sauntered up and stood in front of her. “You want to know what kind of reward I’d like at the end of a hard day?” he asked, rhetorically. His knuckles lightly caressed her cheek as he moved in closer, and her lips parted just a little. She searched his eyes, unable to move. He leaned down slowly.

“I think we’re almost to the center!” a voice called out. It was very near.

“Damn it,” Mulder whispered, and stepped away. He pretended to be very interested in a rock in the corner as she turned to face the sundial. Scully ran her fingers over the motto carved into the face of it. 

_Love is the act of pulling another from the shadows and into the light_


End file.
